A damper fell on the Breeders' Cup Classic-Powered by Dodge (gr. I) when 4-year-old George Washington broke down late in the stretch and had to be euthanized on the Monmouth Park track Oct. 27.
A son of Danehill, George Washington was pulled up around the sixteenth pole by jockey Mick Kinane. It was discovered after the race that he had suffered a fracture of the cannon bone in the right front fetlock joint. Trainer Aidan O’Brien immediately told attending veterinarians to euthanize the bay colt.
“He had an open fracture of the condyle,” said on-call veterinarian Dr. C. Wayne McIlwraith. "The fetlock was dislocated with both sesamoids fractured as well. So it was a hopeless injury as far as repair, and he has been euthanized.”
Out of Alysheba mare Bordighera, George Washington was owned by John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith. He was bred in Ireland by Lael Stables.
A sixth-place finisher in last year’s Classic, he had won six of 13 lifetime starts and earned $1,475,816.
